Swift recruits big banks to test its new blockchain ledger

• Key insights: Seventeen banks, including BNY, Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo, are preparing to test live, tokenized cross-border payments on the company’s blockchain-based orchestration platform. 
• What’s at stake: The transition to a pilot stage is an important step for Swift as the rise of digital assets threaten its position as a key coordinator among banks. 
• Expert quote: “Critical mass amongst banks will be important for moving tokenized payments into the mainstream.” — Dave Scola, U.S. CEO at Form3, a payments-as-a-service fintech. 

Swift will soon get an early look at how its new blockchain technology can help the messaging network ward off challenges from digital-asset upstarts.

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Seventeen banks, including BNY, Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo, are preparing to test live, tokenized cross-border payments on Swift’s ledger.

The ledger enables bank-issued tokenized deposits to move internationally between financial institutions before the transaction is settled through existing payment rails. It’s similar to The Clearing House’s own interoperable, tokenized deposit product, which also settles on traditional fiat rails but has a domestic focus rather than an international one. 

ANZ, BNP Paribas, First Abu Dhabi Bank, South Africa-based FirstRand Bank Limited, São Paulo-based Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Dubai-based Mashreq, MUFG Bank, UBS, and Singapore-based banks DBS, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., and United Overseas Bank are also participating in the pilot. 

“The strong support from banks shows the practical value of this approach — one that will help scale benefits globally while creating a foundation for future innovation in areas like programmable money and agentic commerce,” Thierry Chilosi, Swift’s chief business officer, said in a release.  

Swift’s progress is key as the rise of digital assets threaten the messaging network’s position as a coordinator among banks. 

“Swift is defending the one thing it owns: coordination between banks. So it’s not so much about becoming a blockchain or building a settlement chain, but rather an orchestration layer over deposits that stay on each bank’s own ledger,” Anton Lobintsev, co-founder of SquareFi, a stablecoin infrastructure provider, told American Banker in an email. 

“On day one, it’s a 24/7 liquidity overlay on top of correspondent banking; money moves before final settlement still clears through the old rails. That’s exactly why 17 tier-1 banks signed,” Lobintsev said. 

It’s also an important step for the wider adoption of digital assets, Dave Scola, U.S. CEO of payments-as-a-service fintech Form3 told American Banker in an email. 

“This is yet another example of the industry recognizing that new forms of digital money need to work alongside existing payment systems, rather than replace them,” Scola said. “The ability to move funds outside of traditional business hours before completing the final settlement through existing systems underscores the importance of interoperability between traditional and digital assets and their underlying infrastructure.

“Critical mass amongst banks will be important for moving tokenized payments into the mainstream,” he said. 

In the U.S., prudential regulators and the Securities and Exchange Commission have been working to establish rules for tokenized bank deposits, which would allow transactions to settle on the blockchain rather than traditional fiat rails. Those rules could come as early as next year and would need to be established for banks to expand tokenized deposit services beyond pilot programs.